It is the latest skirmish in a long, acrimonious history between the pair, who are among the most respected voices on football in the country.

In 2012, Slater took to Twitter to slam a column Foster wrote for the Sun-Herald as “racist”.

Foster had questioned Melbourne Victory's decision to appoint Northern Irishman Jim Magilton as coach, claiming the appointment was a ''return to the direction of yesteryear'' and a reminder of Australian football's ''historical reliance on Britons''.

“His article in today's Sun-Herald in my opinion is a racist column," Slater tweeted. "British people have made a massive contribution to the history of our game and continue to do so.''

Slater also accused Foster of concealing a ''deep, dark secret'' about being thrown in a Tahitian jail cell after the completion of the 2000 OFC Nations Cup.

Foster later cleared the air, saying he had been jailed helping out a teammate.

Slater then used his column in News Corp publications to reveal their feud dated back to a Socceroos pay dispute during the 1997 Confederations Cup in Saudi Arabia.

"Despite being new to the team, Foster - and some other players - felt we weren't getting enough of the prize money," Slater wrote. "The arguments were bitter, with Foster on one side, me on the other. The feeling around the team was very uneasy.

"There had been other disputes over money during my time, but nothing like this.

"There were threats not to play, which would have resulted in Australia being kicked out of FIFA. It was a dark time for football in this country.

"We were inspecting the ground before the first game against Mexico, when he came up to me.

"He couldn't resist a dig: 'Hey Bulldog, you're not going to take that money, are you?'

"I told him to get out of my face and where to go in no uncertain terms. This was from a bloke who had been in the team for five minutes. I retired from the Socceroos during that tournament and the bitterness of that pay dispute was a major reason for it."

Slater has been critical of SBS’s coverage during this World Cup, using social media to vent his frustration.

“Dear oh dear the coverage!” he tweeted. “Now I know why I went to the last 4 world cups ! Don't have to put up with this ahhhhhhhhhh!”

He also posted: “We could do with a bit of professionalism in the commentary though ! Haha ‪#fanspoilstheshow”.